Former England pacer Steve Harmison questioned Jos Buttler‘s motivation following the right-handed batter’s horror show in the T20 World Cup 2026. Harry Brook-led side crashed out of the tournament on Thursday after losing by seven runs in the semi-final against India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. In the eight matches he played for the Three Lions in the tenth edition of the tournament, Buttler managed just 87 runs and looked all at sea. In the semi-final, Buttler tried to hit his way back into form, but it wasn’t meant to be, and his painful stay ended at the hands of Varun Chakaravarthy.
The right-handed batter did not manage a single fifty in the World Cup, failing to give England good starts up top. Following England’s ouster from the tournament, Harmison questioned whether Buttler has enough in the tank to keep playing for the national team. Buttler, who was instrumental in England’s 2019 50-overs World Cup triumph and 2022 T20 World Cup win, looked a pale shadow of himself in the 2026 edition of the competition.
“He needs to look at himself in the mirror and say, ‘Do I really want to carry on playing international cricket? If he says, ‘I do’, then he keeps on playing for me. It’s just whether the ups and downs have taken that effect. I think Jos deserves the right to think, ‘Have I got one more cycle in me to get through to another tournament?,” Harmison said on TalkSport.
“Only Jos can answer that, and he should be allowed to do that. But I just look at Jos, and I’m not sure he’s enjoying playing cricket for England at the moment,” he added.
Is Buttler enjoying his cricket?
Harmison also raised questions about whether Buttler is enjoying his cricket, saying that if not, he should call it quits and pass the bat on to someone else.
“If the candle is just flickering, and it’s not quite there, which doesn’t seem to have been an enjoyment factor for the last year or so, then maybe it is time for Jos to say, ‘I’ve given my time, given everything for England, I’ve been England’s best white-ball player, and it’s now time for someone else to take over,” said Harmison.
Buttler is England’s most capped cricketer across all formats, with 411 appearances to his name. He is also England’s highest T20 run-scorer with 4,037 runs. It remains to be seen whether he has enough left in the tank to go on till 2027 for the ODI World Cup, set to be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
